“We need to know something.”
“He’s got a fractured skull.”
“Besides that.”
“Head injuries don’t usually have a good outcome.”
“Outcome?”
“He might live, but you might wish he hadn’t.”
“What the hell does that mean?”
“His brain is probably mush. I don’t know how else to say it.”
Kent came back into the room. “He’s wrong,” Celeste said. “He’s just wrong.”
“Velvet, honey, you’ve got to accept the truth.”
“The truth? What is the truth, Kent? That you slept with his mother? That you don’t believe…don’t
want
to believe he’s yours? None of that matters, because he’s mine. Jonny’s mine, and he’s going to get well. He is.”
“Velvet, believe me, I’d give anything if this hadn’t happened to him.”
“He’s just a little boy. He deserves a chance to grow up.”
“Yes, he does. If I could change places with him, I would.”
“Why? He doesn’t matter to you.”
“That’s not fair, Velvet. The life of any human being matters to me. I saw enough of them get snuffed out during the war. I know what death’s all about.”
Celeste’s agitation boiled over despite her best efforts. “I don’t even know why you’re here. I’ve already told you I won’t give him up to marry you, and you’ve made it pretty clear that you only want me and not him. I guess it would be convenient for you if he…”
“Stop it!” He grasped her shoulders and turned her toward him. “Just stop it!”
Tears spilled down her cheeks. “He said we were a team, the two of us.”
Kent crushed her against him. “Velvet, Velvet.”
“He’s such a good little kid. Everybody says so. I keep seeing him standing there on the sidewalk, skinny and dirty and cold, holding onto that paper bag with everything he had in the world. I got him fed and clean and warm, and he just settled right in with me like he’d been there forever. But I can’t help him now, and I feel like a murderer.”
Kent rocked her in his arms in silence.
****
Mr. Thomas came to the hospital and told her his wife would take care of the books and not to worry about her job. Veda showed up every afternoon when she got off work and drove Celeste home to eat and change clothes. Then Kent somehow managed to be there to take her back to the hospital, where he stayed with her as long as he could.
“You’re going to be sick, Cece,” Coralee said on the fourth day. “You need at least one night in your own bed.”
“I can’t leave him up there alone in the dark, Sister.”
“The nurses take care of him.”
“I think they’ve given up on him. They do what they have to, but no more.”
Celeste rummaged in the bookshelf.
“What are you looking for?”
“The Thomases gave him a book at Christmas, about cowboys in America. I thought I’d read to him.”
“Cece…”
“What would you do if it was Barbara up there, Sister? Just let her lie there?”
“No, of course not. I’ll find you a paper bag for the books.”
****
Kent dozed on the sofa in the waiting room, while Celeste read aloud for hours on end. “He can’t hear you,” a nurse told her.
“How do you know?”
“He’s…”
Celeste turned the page and began to read again. On the sixth day, she’d fallen asleep with her head on the edge of Jonny’s bed when she heard him say, “You didn’t finish about Jesse James, Mom.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
The nurse said the doctor took his time coming because he didn’t really believe Jonny was awake and talking. When he finally strolled in, the look on his face, combined with the joy in her heart, made Celeste laugh aloud.
The third time the doctor held up his fingers in front of Jonny’s face and asked him, “How many?” Jonny answered weakly, but with unconcealed impatience. “I already told you three times. Can I have a cookie?”
“Not for a few days,” the doctor said. “Just liquids until your gut starts working again.”
“What’s a gut?”
“Your tummy, Jonny,” Celeste said. “You haven’t had anything to eat for a long time.”
“I have, too. I had popcorn at the picture show last night.”
“That was a few nights ago. You got hurt in Ricky’s backyard.”
Jonny frowned. “I did?”
“But you’re fine now. You’re just fine.”
“So when can I have some cookies, Mom?”
****
Veda convinced Celeste to go home for the night. “I’ll stay with Jonny.”
“You have to work tomorrow.”
“So, I’ll sleep in on Sunday. God will understand, don’t you think? Go on, Cece. Anyway, Kent’s waiting for you downstairs. He got a pass when Coralee called to tell him about Jonny.”
“Is Kent that soldier who came by the house?” Jonny asked. “He’s got the same name as mine.”
Veda shoved Celeste toward the door. “Go on. We’ll be fine.”
“It’s like nothing ever happened,” Celeste said as soon as she saw Kent.
“I’m really glad, Velvet.”
“The doctor couldn’t believe it. I’m not sure I can either.”
“I saw a few bad head injuries come back during the war, but I didn’t want to give you false hope.”
“I never gave up hope, Kent. I couldn’t. I didn’t give up on you, and I couldn’t give up on Jonny.”
****
“That soldier came to see me last night,” Jonny told Celeste when she arrived the next morning. “The one with the same name as mine.”
Celeste glanced at Veda, who nodded. “He came. And I’m going.” She waved at Jonny. “See ya, kiddo.”
“He brought me a new airplane. Aunt Veda said mine got broke in the storm you told me about yesterday.”
Celeste picked up the scale model of a B-17. “He worked in one of these during the war.”
“Yeah, he told me. He dropped bombs on people, but he didn’t like to, only he had to. They were the bad guys.”
“Right.”
“He said there’s a couple of real B-17s out at the field, and maybe he’ll take me to see them.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, he said if you said it was okay.”
“We’ll see.”
“Aw, gee, that means no.”
“Not always. Did you get any breakfast?”
He made a face. “Yeah, just some stuff that tasted kind of like chicken, but there wasn’t any, just water. I looked hard, too.”
“It’s called broth.”
“I want something real, like a banana or some ice cream.”
“Soon, I promise.”
“When can I get this thing off my head? It’s heavy. When can I go home? I bet Miss Bates is gonna be mad at me for missing school.”
“Coralee called the school and explained that you got hurt.”
“And I won’t get a gold star for being at the head of the spelling line.”
“You get a gold star for being a chatterbox,” Celeste said. “Here, I brought your comic books.”
****
Kent came at five and motioned Celeste into the hall. “I’ve got a twenty-four-hour pass. If you want to go home again tonight, I’ll stay with the boy.”
“It was nice of you to bring him the plane. Veda’s brother gave him the other one. It was his favorite toy.” She turned around. “I’ll be back in a few minutes, Jonny, okay?”
He grunted and turned the page of the comic book on the bed tray.
Kent and Celeste walked to the waiting room. “He’s hungry, and he wants to go back to school,” she said. “That’s a good sign.”
“What does the doctor say?”
“Not much. I think he’s mad because he was wrong.”
Kent laughed. “You think?”
“That’s what the nurse says.”
“You’re going to have to go back to work, aren’t you?”
“Next week. And Coralee has to go home, but Mrs. Aikman will come over and stay with Jonny when he gets out.”
“He’s a smart kid, isn’t he?”
“He didn’t even know his letters when I got him. He should’ve been in school already.”
“Velvet, how are you going to pay the hospital bill?”
“I don’t know and don’t care. All that matters is that Jonny’s all right.”
“I can help.”
“It’s not your responsibility, Kent, but thank you.”
He uncrossed his legs, then crossed them again. “I’ve been thinking about it. Maybe it is.”
“I wish I could believe that.”
Kent stood up and walked to the window. “I’m not saying I could raise him, Velvet, or be the dad he wants. But I can help out with what he needs.”
“You’re going to school as soon as you’re discharged. You’ll need every penny.”
“The plumbing supply company manager offered me my old job back. I could work a while until the bills are paid.”
Celeste caught her breath. “Oh, Kent.”
“I mean it, Velvet. The blood type didn’t really prove anything, but maybe I owe the boy something, whether he’s mine or not.”
“I’ll talk to the business office tomorrow and see what they say. I’m sure I can pay it out.”
“The bank your father worked for would let you borrow if you had to.”
“I don’t want to do that if I can help it.”
“I can’t say I blame you. Listen, let me take you out for something to eat, and then home. I’ll come back up here and stay the night.”
“You’d really do that?”
“For you, Velvet.”
She sighed. “I’d rather you’d do it for Jonny, but…I’m sorry. Thank you, Kent. That’s very generous of you.”
The next morning when she finally got up, Celeste found Kent sitting in the kitchen with Coralee. “The kid kicked me out last night about nine. Said he was big enough to stay by himself. I think he was irritated when I ran out of answers for all his questions. Anyway, I made sure he knew where the cord was if he had to call a nurse and came over here to bunk on your couch.”
“You were already out like a light when he showed up, Cece,” Coralee said. “By the way, Ben’s coming for me around noon.”
“I’m glad. You need to go home, Sister. You shouldn’t have stayed away from your family so long.”
“You’re my family, too, sweetie. I wanted to be here with you.”
After breakfast, Kent drove Celeste to the hospital. “He’s a smart kid, you know.”
“You’ve said that before.”
“He wanted to know all about the B-17—the crew, how high it flew, how we dropped our bombs on the targets. Then he wanted to know about the ship I went over on. I had to tell him I didn’t inspect it from bow to stern. He said he’d have looked at everything so he’d know how it worked.”
“He would have, too.”
Jonny pointed to his head as soon as they walked in. “Look, Mom. The doctor took off part of my head this morning.”
Celeste inspected the diminished bandage. “I like that.”
“And I got some real food this morning, too. Well, not really real, but better than that chicken stuff.”
Kent still stood by the door. “I’ll be back later,” he said to Celeste.
Jonny frowned “I wanted to ask you some more questions.”
“I’ll be back,” Kent said, not looking at him.
****
At four, Kent returned and asked Celeste to walk down the hall with him. “I’ve got to get back to the field by five.”
“Thank you for what you’ve done. Jonny told me all about your conversation last night. And he doesn’t just have some more questions—he has about a million of them.”
“Okay, well…” He looked around and saw the waiting room was deserted. “I love you, Velvet,” he said, pulling her against him.
She lifted her willing lips for his kiss.
“I’m not sure I can stand leaving here next month without you.”
“I’ll miss you.”
“Enough to…” He kissed her again. “Never mind. I know the answer to that. I’ll call you, Velvet. Take care of yourself.” Letting her go, almost abruptly, he walked out of the waiting room. She followed him into the hall and watched until he stepped onto the elevator.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
“He shouldn’t be here,” the doctor told Celeste when she arrived at the hospital after work on Monday. “I wouldn’t have given him a snowball’s chance in hell, but I’m going to let you take him home today. Keep him quiet for another week. Then he can go back to school if he doesn’t go outside at recess. Take him in to see your family doctor for a check-up in two weeks.”
Exhausted from the excitement of coming home, Jonny fell asleep on the sofa immediately after supper. Celeste was washing dishes when Kent telephoned. “I called the hospital. The nurse said you’d left.”
“We came home after I got off work,” she said. “Jonny can go back to school in another week—with restrictions.”
“That’s terrific, Velvet. I’m happy for both of you.”
“I talked to the business office. The bill isn’t so bad. I set up a payment plan that won’t ruin me.”
“I’m going to help you, Velvet. I’ve got two more checks coming from Uncle Sam. The other thing I called to tell you was that I got the GI money for school. I can start in January.”
“I’m happy for you, Kent.”
“But I meant what I said about going back to work for the plumbing supply.”
“I know you did, but I’ve got things worked out. Really. We won’t starve or freeze this winter.”
“Coralee won’t let that happen.”
“Big Ben offered me the money for the bill, and I guess he wouldn’t miss it, not really, but I don’t want to take it unless I have to.”
“No. Listen, I can get another pass this weekend. Maybe we could spend some time together after the boy is in bed.”
“I think he’d like to see you, too.”
“That’s not a good idea, Velvet.”
“All right.”
“I’ll go to the Canteen for a while and then come by.”
“Eight, eight-thirty will be fine.”
“I’ll see you then.”
****
Celeste didn’t tell Jonny that Kent was coming. She could tell he still tired easily when he didn’t protest going to bed before his usual time. At seven-thirty, she cleared his covers of comic books and spread the sheet over him. Leaving a small lamp burning so she could check on him in the night, she closed the door to his room and went out on the porch to wait for Kent.
****
They sat in the swing Ben had put up when he came for Coralee. “He said it would let Jonny get out of the house,” Celeste explained. “Jonny loves the one at the ranch.”
“It’s real nice.” Kent reached for her hand. “Nice for big boys and girls, too.”
She laid her head on his shoulder, naturally, as if it belonged there. “He’s so excited about going back to school Monday, but I’m thinking of keeping him home another week. Mrs. Aikman doesn’t mind being here.”